RE: Tech Writing Curriculum

Subject: RE: Tech Writing Curriculum
From: Iggy <iggy_1996dp -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 05:51:53 -0800 (PST)

> I see your point, but if we are talking about a new
> technical-writing
> program being developed in an English department,
> consider (c) the
> Powers that Be who can approve new courses are
> literature specialists
> who are skeptical of the curriculum itself (in large
> measure because
> they neither have nor want a clue what it is about)
> and see no place in
> the English department for a course that focuses on
> anything as
> practical as software tools. I was told such courses
> smacked of
> "vocationalism."

The polarization of the Powers That Be is irrelevant.
If they are developing a tech writing curriculum then
they have to do it objectively, else why bother.

I hold very little respect for people who try to
broaden a scope but only within the boundaries of
their polarized focus.

And don't teach tools. A college should NEVER have a
FrameMaker 101 course or anything of the sort. Why?
Because tools are tools folks. Teach the tools, but do
so in a useful context. I learned a shload of tools in
college, but not because they taught them. Rather,
courses focused on writing practices, and assignments
mandated a tool to use for the job. If you couldn't
learn the tool on your own, you talked to the
professor and got a tutor.

Look at engineers... they don't have an AutoCAD 101
course. Rather, that skill is taught during various
practice courses - structural analysis and design
courses. You learn the theory and practice and APPLY
it to a tool.

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RE: Tech Writing Curriculum: From: Sarah Bane

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